Dulce de leche crêpe cake with Suzette sauce

Before I give you the recipe for this delicious dessert, I have to confess something: I cheated. See those pretty little citrus segments on top of the crepe cakes? I did not cut those. I suck at segmenting citrus fruit. After murdering two oranges trying to finish up the recipe I gave up – and reached for the jar of mandarins in syrup I had gotten in a Christmas basket and thought I would never use. :D

Wow, I feel a lot lighter now. :D

Dulce de leche crêpe cake with Suzette sauce
from Australian Gourmet Traveller

395g (1 can) dulce de leche
4 oranges, segmented
pouring cream, whisked to soft peaks, to serve

Crêpe batter:
350g (2 ½ cups) all purpose flour
finely grated zest of 1 orange
4 cups (960ml) whole milk
160g unsalted butter, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon caster sugar
1 teaspoon salt
6 eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup (240ml) beer

Suzette sauce:
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (127g) unsalted butter, coarsely chopped
¼ cup + 1 ½ tablespoons (68g) caster sugar
finely grated zest of 2 oranges
1 teaspoon orange-blossom water (optional)
½ cup (120ml) freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon + ¼ cup (60ml) Cointreau, Grand Marnier or brandy, separate use

Start by making the crêpe batter: combine flour and zest in a large bowl and form a well in the center. Combine milk, butter, sugar and salt in a saucepan over high heat until butter melts (5-6 minutes). Whisk eggs and oil in a bowl until combined, add milk mixture, then gradually pour into flour, stirring with a whisk until blended and smooth. Stir in beer, cover with plastic, stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, then refrigerate to rest (overnight)*.
Heat a non-stick crêpe pan with a 21cm-diameter base over medium-high heat, add ¼ cup (60ml) crêpe batter, swirl to coat pan, cook until golden (2 minutes), turn and cook until set (30 seconds). Transfer to a plate and repeat, stacking crêpes as you go. Makes about 25 crêpes.
Spread 3 teaspoons of dulce de leche on each crêpe except the top one, stacking crêpes on an ovenproof serving plate as you go. Set aside at room temperature.
For Suzette butter, cook butter, sugar, zest and orange-blossom water in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves and bubbles (4-5 minutes). Add orange juice and 1 tablespoon Cointreau and simmer until slightly thickened (7-8 minutes; the sauce can be made ahead up to this stage and reheated when ready to use).
To serve, preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Warm crêpe cake in oven (5-8 minutes). Meanwhile, add orange segments to Suzette butter, warm over low heat (3 minutes), spoon a little Suzette butter with orange segments over cake, and transfer remaining to a serving dish. Return pan to heat until warm, add remaining Cointreau, carefully ignite alcohol with a long match, tilting pan away from you (be careful as alcohol will burst into flames), then pour over cake while still lit. Serve warm with whipped cream and Suzette butter.

* I refrigerated my batter for 6 hours and it worked out fine

Serves 12 – I halved the recipe above, made 12cm crêpes and got 20; made two stacks with 10 crêpes each

Savory crepes filled with broccolini cheese soufflé

I have certain preconceptions, must admit it. That feeling of “haven’t seen it but don’t like it already” – I’ve tried going against that, but it didn’t work out... and I think it is worse now that I’m older - I’m more intolerant.

I read something the other day about Clint Eastwood’s new movie (hey, Mark, more imdb links for you!) :). Angelina Jolie is on it, so I won’t even bother - no time to waste. If the Oscar buzz involving her drives me nuts already, watching all that “talent” in action will do me no good.

But I’m not a bad person. I also have “haven’t seen it but like it already” moments. Or, in this case, “haven’t eaten but love it already”. :)

And what a great recipe this is! I slightly changed the filling and was really pleased with the result. Running late and starving, I pulled the crepes out of the oven the minute the filling puffed and firmed – that’s why mine don’t have a gorgeously golden crust like the ones Leila made. It's OK: I’ll solve that next time, when I make the crepes filled with hearts of palm soufflé. ;)

Savory crepes filled with broccolini cheese soufflé

Crepes:
125g all purpose flour
1 egg
1 egg yolk
300ml milk
generous pinch of salt
oil for brushing the pan

Filling:
225g broccolini florets
salt and freshly ground black pepper
45g unsalted butter
45g all purpose flour
300ml milk
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
120g cheddar, grated – I used yellow mozzarella from here, made with cow’s milk (it looks like Monterey Jack cheese)
fresh oregano leaves, to taste
4 tablespoons parmesan, finely grated
4 eggs, whites and yolks separated

Start by making the crepes: sift the flour in a large bowl and make a hole in the center. Add the egg, egg yolk, salt and a few tablespoons of the milk. Whisk well. Gradually add the remaining milk, whisking between additions, until you have added all the milk and the batter is smooth (it will be a rather thin batter).

Heat a 22cm non-stick frying pan over medium heat and brush it lightly with oil. Pour 3 ½ tablespoons of batter into the pan, swirling to cover the bottom completely. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until golden; flip the crepe and cook for further 1-2 minutes. Slide crepe onto a plate. Repeat process with remaining batter, coating the pan again if necessary – you’ll get 8 crepes.

Now, the filling: cook the broccolini florets in a pan of salted, boiling water for 1 minute. Drain, cover with cold water and drain again*.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat, then add the flour, stirring constantly; cook for 1 minute.
Remove the pan from the heat and gradually add the milk, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Put the pan back over heat, add the mustard, mozzarella, parmesan, salt and pepper, whisking until the cheeses melt. Remove from heat again and set aside to cool completely.

Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF; lightly brush a non-stick large baking sheet with oil.

Add the egg yolks to the cooled cheese mixture and mix well. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until firm peaks form. Carefully fold in the egg whites into the cheese mixture, then add the broccolini florets and oregano leaves.

Divide the filling in the center of the open crepes and fold them to encase the soufflé. Place the crepes in the prepared sheet, sprinkle with the extra parmesan (I forgot!) and bake for 15 minutes or until the soufflé is puffed and golden and the crepes are crisp.
Serve with a simple salad.

* I steamed the broccolini florets until al dente

Serves 4

Crepes filled with corn and nutmeg

Don’t you love going through cookbooks/websites with lots of photos? Isn’t it wonderful to know what to expect – visually speaking – from a recipe?

After taking a look at this, I knew I would end up making it. I’m a big fan of crepes and they look so adorable served this way!

I thought these were good, but in my opinion they would have been better with some sort of sauce. I think the sage brown butter sauce I used for this spaghetti would have worked really, really well here.



This is my entry for the Weekend Herb Blogging, this time hosted by Gay, from A Scientist in the Kitchen.

Crepes filled with corn and nutmeg

Crepes:
1 cup (240ml) milk
½ cup (120ml) water
2 eggs
1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
pinch of salt
butter, oil or cooking spray, to coat the pan

Filling:
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups frozen, cooked corn kernels, thawed – I used canned corn kernels, drained
¼ cup (35g) all purpose flour
2 cups (480ml) milk
salt
freshly ground fresh pepper
pinch of ground nutmeg
chives, to fasten the crepes – dip them quickly in hot water before using, so they will be more flexible

Start by making the crepes: Place the milk, water, eggs, salt and flour in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Heat a lightly oiled or greased with butter 22cm (9in) frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the pan, using ¼ cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly. Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. Repeat with remaining batter. Set aside.

Now, the filling: in a large, deep frying pan, melt butter over medium-high. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until golden. Add the corn, cook for 2 minutes, then sprinkle with the flour. Cook, stirring constantly, for another minute. Add the milk and cook, still stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, mix well. Place mounds of warm filling on the center of each crepe, closing it like a bundle/package and tie it up with one chive.

Makes 12